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Patients come to hospitals to be healed and cured. It goes without saying they expect to be kept safe while they’re there. A critical lynchpin to this safety and security is the consistent, dedicated monitoring and testing of a healthcare facility’s medical gas systems. At every point, an incident could conceivably occur–from source equipment to patient rooms.

Because of this, medical gas systems are a point of emphasis by the Joint Commission, and the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS). Past hazards and incidents have warranted this increased level of scrutiny. In fact, Environment of Care Standard 02.05.09 has now been expanded to 14 Elements of Performance (EP's) in 2018. Without clean, contaminant-free medical gases, operational alarm panels and maintained functional source equipment, even the most prudent healthcare facilities may find themselves in violation of code compliance. Or worse, in a situation where the safety of patients is in the balance.

2018 is already flying by and we need to stay in touch with the latest regulations and technology to serve our hospitals and patients. That means attending some of the nation’s best recognized healthcare conferences and expos.

While the Joint Commission (JC), and the CMS keep us on our toes with current standards and recommendations they continually roll out, one thing has stayed consistent for healthcare facility managers looking to keep their patients safe:

Suctioning is a critical part of patient care and in some instances, a potentially life-saving procedure. While the vacuum you create in the pump room makes surgery faster, safer, cleaner, helps patients breath more easily and operates equipment, vacuum systems like the compressed medical gas systems need regular care.

Before we talk about the various kinds of vacuum pumps and their inspection requirements we need to consider thebiggest challenge most hospitals run into withvacuum systems, that is:what they suck up. The entire piped system is designed to pull just air out of the way, but often drags with it fluids, solids and aerosols that all want to stick to the piping, parts and the pumps internals.

Most people think of the medical gas system as oxygen that is pumped to patients in surgery or in their hospital room. In fact, there are several gases that make up the average medical gas system including the anesthesia gases that are part of the cart in the operating room.

Medical gas systems sustain life and are regulated as a drug. This means multiple layers of restrictions and instruction on the proper, safe and legal way to do things.

According to CBC News, the first recorded medical gas cross connection deaths were at a former Sudbury General Hospital in Canada back in 1973. The outcome of this tragic event was the evolution of a code requiring 3rd party verification and later installer certifications.

As healthcare facility managers, you need to inspect, check and maintain alarm-equipped devices. In 2016, The Joint Commission issued, Hospital Patient Safety Goals, with the focus on problems in healthcare and how to solve them.

One being...

Use alarms safely, NPSG.06.01.01 -- make improvements to ensure that alarms on medical equipment are heard and responded to on time.

Alarms also monitor source equipment, areas or zones and more. At every step from source to patient, there are alarms to warn of medical gases being delivered or malfunctions or gas leaks from a damaged system.

This article will examine all aspects of alarms and its respective triggers (pertaining to medical gas), first response actions, best practices, troubleshooting tips, false alarm situations and how to prevent them.

Do you want to improve patient safety in your healthcare organization?

The smallest improvement may provide a large impact to patient safety. As a hospital leader or healthcare facility manager, you are the one held accountable for effective care while maintaining a safe environment for patients, staff, and visitors.

There are WAY too many obstacles that could stand in your way with all the moving parts that make up a healthy, thriving healthcare environment.

You could say, "anyone that touches a patient or anything that touches the patient must wash their hands". Certainly it would help to improve patient safety, and it'd be a start. Hand washing should become an educational priority.

If only it were that easy...

You need to be very systematic with your approach and how you implement patient safety in a healthcare environment.

Today, I'm going to show you 9 ways that almost guarantees your facilities will run more effectively, and first and foremost safer.

Keeping your medical gas systems operating properly isn't the only threat to patient safety. It is about time that these formerly Hospital Acquired Infection or Hospital Associated Infections were seriously attacked.

In recent years, these infections have killed 100,000 people who were patients mostly of hospitals; but with the changes in healthcare delivery, also infected rehab and even surgery centers. 1.7 million infections have been identified in a year. Nosocomial infections kill more Americans each year than AIDS and breast cancer combined. So the counter attack was begun to save lives and patient distress.

The term "nosocomial" (nōzōˈkōmēəl) comes from two Greek words: "nosus" = "disease" + "komeion" = "to take care of." So, it is a disease or infection from being taken care of (or hospitalized).

The terms “Hospital Acquired Infection” or “Hospital Associated Infections” or “HAI” or “Nosocomial Infection” will be used interchangeably through this article.

CHT is proud to introduce their latest in a series of ground breaking software programs designed to automate medical gas compliance while making critical, decision making data instantly available.

The new, patented CHx program is a state-of-the-art, online system designed specifically to make healthcare systems manage their medical gas programs more efficiently. All of your facility’s medical gas system information is accessible real-time, through a user friendly interface allowing you to access data, complete risk assessments and make decisions in very little time; saving you time and money.

NFPA and other certifying agencies have narrowed their philosophy for the inspection and certification of hospitals from an occupancy-based code to a Risk Based philosophy. This requires the hospital to identify potential dangers and faults in all their systems and have on hand a written policy to handle equipment maintenance and failures.